Senior military leader meets with deputy defense minister of Brunei

Xu Qiliang, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC), meets with Dato Seri Pahlawan Abdul Aziz bin Haji Muhammad Tamit, deputy minister of defense of Brunei Darussalam, who comes to China to participate in the 7th Xiangshan Forum, in Beijing on the morning of October 12, 2016. (mod.gov.cn/Li Xiaowei)

BEIJING, October 13 (ChinaMil) -- Xu Qiliang, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission (CMC), met with Dato Seri Pahlawan Abdul Aziz bin Haji Muhammad Tamit, deputy minister of defense of Brunei Darussalam, who came to China to participate in the 7th Xiangshan Forum, in Beijing on the morning of October 12, 2016.

Xu Qiliang said that China and Brunei have been friendly neighbors across the sea since ancient times, and that Chinese people treasure the traditional friendship between the two countries, which has lasted for thousands of years.

Xu expressed that China regards Brunei as its trustworthy friend and cooperative partner, and is willing to work with Brunei to further deepen the political mutual trust and push forward the continuous new development of the China-Brunei strategic partnership.

Xu mentioned that for many years, the military-to-military contacts between the two countries have achieved remarkable and fruitful results.

He hoped that the two sides should further expand their fields of defense cooperation and enhance pragmatic exchanges, so as to constantly add new connotations to the development of bilateral relations. Xu Qiliang pointed out that China and Brunei have been maintaining close and good communication and coordination on the South China Sea issue. He believed that the two sides can continue to support each other on the right track, so as to set a good example in dealing with the South China Sea issue for countries in this region and jointly safeguard the overall regional peace and stability. Aziz said that the Bruneian government and its defense department are committed to the development of closer relations between the two countries and their armed forces.

He said that Brunei supports China to play an increasingly important role in the regional affairs and appreciate China’s positive participation in regional disaster relief and rescue as well as joint exercises and training, and its efforts to safeguard regional peace and stability in recent years.

Brunei is willing to expand the military-to-military exchanges between Brunei and China in various fields, strengthen pragmatic cooperation in such aspects as personnel training and joint exercises and training, so as to provide more opportunities for the development of bilateral relations, he added.

Yi Xiaoguang, deputy chief of the CMC’s Joint Staff Department, was also present at the meeting.